Crack open this tale of family and fright, as cute as it is creepy. All the animals in the zoo have friends and family to play with and love. All of them, that is, except Quackenstein. Lonely and bitter in his ramshackle corner, he decides to adopt an egg. He cares for it diligently, waiting until the moment when it will hatch a baby duck of his own. On a dark and stormy night, the egg hatches, Quackenstein cackles, and lightning strikes, but wait-what's this? That baby's not a duck! What will he do? Where can he hide? And will Quackenstein ever find someone (or something) to cuddle? Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen's clever rhyming text is perfectly paired with cute and spooky art from Brian T. Jones."Jones gleefully uses every cliche in the book, from lurid lettering and backgrounds to effective use of silhouettes and shadows. Bardhan-Quallen, too, takes advantage of horror-movie tropes, but she also mixes in some instruction in the form of cumulative nouns for animals. The surprise twist at the end happily resolves Quack's fatherless state." -Kirkus Reviews

 

This book was recognised by the Buckaroo Book Award.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2010 by Abrams .

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is the author of several nonfiction books for children. She currently lives with her family in London, England. Brian T. Jones is a graduate of the Otis College of Art and Design whose work has appeared in the New Yorker . He lives in Pasadena, California. Visit him online at www. briantjones. com.